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Ann Kibbey: Bill will slow down mad rush on oil development in Colorado

Posted:
03/28/2013 01:00:00 AM MDT

On Thursday, March 28, House Bill 1269 will be heard at the state capital by the Transportation & Energy Committee. This bill would eliminate the conflict of interest that currently exists within the Colorado Oil & Gas Commission by removing the part of their mandate to promote oil and gas development, leaving them to focus on health and safety exclusively.

Why should state money (yours and my taxes) be spent on promoting such a wealthy industry? The spin by the industry is that Colorado's economy is dependent on oil and gas.

In actuality, according to the U.S. Department of Labor Statistics, oil and gas accounts for less than 2 percent of all non-farming jobs in Colorado. Compare that to our tourism industry which accounts for over 12 percent of the non-farm jobs. I believe that fracking is a real threat to this tourism industry. Who wants to come visit a place where the water and air are polluted and the landscape is scarred and ugly (just take a look at images of western Colorado to get an idea of where we're headed if we don't slow things down: http://financialpress.com/2013/03/07/a-must-read-account-of-fracking-colorado).

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While HB 1269 will not solve many of the other concerns I have about fracking, from water usage to health and safety concerns to impacts on climate change, it is a good place to start to at least slow down the mad rush to exploit oil and gas in a state that is far more dependent on other industries that would be adversely effected by such rapid development.

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